


a little pop of colour

by hyper_hooked



Series: The Umbrella Academy (& Seven) [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: !!!!, Fluff, Gen, No Incest, Not Sure How To tag this TBH, POV Number Five | The Boy, Pre-Canon, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, five is very annoyed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:22:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29614245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyper_hooked/pseuds/hyper_hooked
Summary: He looks back to the little goldfish. Circling the tiny aquarium again and again and again. It almost reminds him a bit of Seven. All alone in its unpersonal little space, only extraordinary in how small it is compared to the others. Those large bulging eyes staring right back at him. And – is he seriously comparing his sister to a fish now?! How long have they already been standing there? Maybe he would be a bit concerned if he didn’t know that every single person on top of this platform is at least as messed up as him.orHow theft saves Five from a very painful death by boredom and gives Seven's room a pop of colour
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: The Umbrella Academy (& Seven) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175771
Comments: 7
Kudos: 32





	a little pop of colour

Five hates the photo shootings. 

Sure, it's pretty great to finally get his talents recognized. Or it was the first two-three times, at least. But he’s been standing here for half an hour and the only movement he’s allowed to make is breathing. He glances at Two, whose chest is unmoving like a statue and whose smile is starting to look more like a grimace. At least he's allowed that. It could always be worse.

The worst part isn’t even the stiffness of his legs or his hurting cheeks or the headache he’s getting from all the flashing cameras and reporters screaming over each other to get an interview with the newest sensation. _The Umbrella Academy._ All those boring marvel movies come to life in one extraordinary team of superheroes to defeat the bad guys.

No, the worst part is having to stay completely still.

Look, Five can be a bit of a standoffish guy. Some would call him full of himself, though he doesn’t think that knowinghe’s smarter than all his siblings is a bad thing. Normally he can entertain himself well enough, prefers it, even. Of course he loves his siblings, but they can get _so annoying._ One always kissing dad’s ass, Two being the angriest mama’s boy ever, Three rumouring everyone who doesn’t do what she says, Four always laughing like a lunatic, six…well, he likes Six. And Seven. Although they’re both too shy for their own good. And _awesome_ shit talkers if you get them riled up enough. He really doesn’t know why they hide their talents like that. 

But _normally_ he can move. He can talk about his theories with Six or Seven or just the wall (it doesn’t make that much of a difference, although he would never tell them that. He knows they don’t understand half the words that come out of his mouth). He can pace around. He can tap his foot and swing his hands and tap his fingers. Now he isn’t even allowed to stop smiling. It’s a complete nightmare. 

The only good thing about all this bullshit is that nobody can see his eyes behind the mask.

Which means that as long as it _seems_ like he’s looking at the cameras, he can secretly watch the pet shop across the street and nobody will be none the wiser. 

So that’s what he’s doing. Staring at the fishes in the aquarium in the showcase of the shop. One in particular has caught his attention. He isn’t even sure why. It’s just an ordinary goldfish, swimming circle after circle after circle in his small lonely aquarium.

Has he already mentioned how much he hates standing still? Dear old dad may have thought about stretchiness and sturdiness in all the necessary places but couldn’t even put a stupid pocket on the uniform. Then he maybe could’ve at least fidgeted a bit with his fingers without anyone noticing. But he can’t. He’s overly conscious of how _still_ he is. Legs? Stiff. Straight. Still. Arms? Tense. Still. Feet? Still. He can feel the restlessness pressing against his chest. He wants to move but knows that if he starts he won’t be able to stop. Still still still still. He wonders if that is what Ben feels all the time, with that hateful thing pressing against him 24/7, begging to be released and kill everything in its wake. He wonders how he can be so calm all the time if that’s the case. He wonders how long this stupid thing will continue. He imagines just jumping away. Appearing in Seven's room and talking or just listening to her playing. That seems _way_ more appealing than all this bullshit. Maybe this can be his villain origin story.

He wonders how Seven is holding up. Five knows that dad actively tries to separate her from the others in any way he can. The prick doesn’t even try to hide it. He knows that not one of those annoying reporters even know of her existence. Just because she’s _ordinary._ Five has to hold back a scowl. Dad can prohibit her from going to their training or spending the free time with them all he wants, but he can’t do anything to stop Five from jumping. And there is no way he is just abandoning his favourite sibling like that. He can’t imagine being alone in that huge house, only mom and Pogo as company. Mom, who isn’t even a real human, and Pogo, who is basically a slightly nicer Reginald. No wonder she started playing an instrument, at least the violin chases away the quiet. He knows it hurts her to be excluded like that. Knows that she feels lonely and left out. Hell, even her room is smaller than the others. Her only personal belonging is the violin (not like she has any chance to get anything else herself, prohibited from leaving the grounds). He doesn’t know how those boring beige walls haven’t driven her insane yet. 

He looks back to the little goldfish. Circling the tiny aquarium again and again and again. It almost reminds him a bit of Seven. All alone in its unpersonal little space, only extraordinary in how small it is compared to the others. Those large bulging eyes staring right back at him. And – is he seriously comparing his sister to a fish now?! How long have they already been standing there? Maybe he would be a bit concerned if he didn’t know that every single person on top of this platform is at least as messed up as him.

He stares at the fish. The fish stares back.

He stares at the fish. The doors of the pet shop open and a man runs away, holding a sack close to his chest. He barely hears the shopkeeper yelling after the thief in his excitement. He tries not to look too relieved – that would be terrible propaganda – and jumps on top of the thief before his siblings can even properly understand the situation. 

The man’s clothes are old and well worn, full of patchy attempts at covering holes. Five wrinkles his nose at his breath. When the man lets the sack fall in shock, a stack of cans of no-name dog food role on the streets. Maybe he should feel pity for a poor man stealing cheap food for his dog, but the little twinge in his heart is easy to ignore. There isn’t any place for unnecessary feelings like compassion or mercy in The Umbrella Academy. Mostly he feels glad that he can finally properly move without getting punished later.

And if the little goldfish disappears from the showcase in the middle of all the chaos with the reporters and the police, well, he doubts that anyone will notice. Seven could use a pop of colour in her room after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Since you already read until here, I'm assuming you didn't hate it too much. Or even liked it enough for kudos. Or, gasp, a comment (it's literally instant serotonin). I'm not sure when I will post next (and I don't want to make any promises bc procrastination is like my only talent) but I already have an idea for my next os and it would be awesome (and very motivating) if this series got some bookmarks too (¬‿¬)
> 
> I hc Five as the kind of person who can't stay still (like me) and had to learn it in the commission. I have a feeling I exaggerated a bit here, but I do get pretty anxious when I have to stay still for a long amount of time - especially if I'm consciously aware of it and am feeling uncomfortable, which both apply in this case.
> 
> Anyway, I hope it isn't too OOC, my heart doesn't get broken by tua (currently midway through s2) and that you have a great day!!


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